How confident? When the Highlanders won the pregame coin toss at Miller Stadium, Manning chose to have the wind at his team's back, giving Ardmore the ball to start both halves.

With the gusting wind behind them, Lawton MacArthur scored three first-quarter touchdowns and coasted to a 56-2 win Saturday that sends them into the 5A title game against No. 1 Guthrie at 11 a.m. Friday at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater.

“We were trying to pin them down deep, go three-and-out and get the ball in really good field position with the wind,” Manning said. “We wanted to get two or three scores on them and the defense came through for me. They made it a good decision.”

In the Highlanders' first four offensive series, they never started outside the Ardmore 30-yard line.

Quarterback Taylor Chasteen connected with Quinton Paras and Dewayne Sanford for a pair of touchdown passes, and Darius Graham added a 22-yard touchdown run as Lawton MacArthur built a quick and commanding 22-0 lead.

“Every time we kick off, I tell the defense to set the tempo,” said Graham, a junior who rushed 22 times for 151 yards and three touchdowns. “They set it every time. When we get out there on offense, we're fired up and we take care of business ourselves.”